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Understanding YouTube Red: Paid Subscriptions and the Future of Online Video

2015-10-27 · explainer · John · 3:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook

John weighs YouTube Red, the new $10-a-month ad-free subscription: good for creators and a welcome step away from sole reliance on advertising, but he worries it could create two classes of viewers and make YouTube more like cable TV.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting and date; YouTube Red launches tomorrow; John trimmed the beard Nerdfighters called the Under Puff

  • ★★ John says YouTube Red launches the next day, which may or may not change online video forever. (hedged) — 00:00:01 · YouTube
  • ★ John has trimmed his beard because Nerdfighters had started calling it the 'Under Puff'. (playful) — 00:00:09 · Under Puff, Nerdfighteria

00:00:14 — Advantages and disadvantages of ad-supported media: broad audiences over loved niche shows; Emily Nussbaum on being sold to

  • ★★ John says YouTube has always been ad-supported like network TV and radio: creators get paid, unlike on most social media, and it is free for viewers. — 00:00:15 · YouTube, online advertising
  • ★★★ John says ad-supported media seeks the broadest audience for advertisers, so broadly watched shows like Law & Order succeed while loved niche shows like Firefly or Arrested Development fail. — 00:00:28 · online advertising
  • ★★ John says viewers are affected by advertising even if they think not, quoting Emily Nussbaum's essay; corporations know more about his consumptive habits than he does, as studies show. — 00:00:49 · online advertising

00:01:09 — What YouTube Red is: $10 a month for ad-free YouTube, offline watching, music and exclusive originals

  • ★★★ John explains YouTube Red: ten dollars a month for ad-free YouTube, offline watching and all the music you want, 'like Spotify plus ad-free YouTube', plus subscriber-only originals. — 00:01:14 · YouTube

00:01:27 — Is it good for creators? Yes, but direct support via Patreon or merch is far better; John will get it anyway

  • ★★★ Answering the most-asked question, John says YouTube Red is good for creators: some of the fee goes to them and per viewer it earns them more than advertising. (hedged) — 00:01:33 · online advertising, YouTube
  • ★★★ John says supporting creators directly, through Patreon or buying merch, is vastly ('a thousand times') more valuable than YouTube Red or ads; direct support remains best. (playful) — 00:01:43 · YouTube
  • ★ John says creator support is not the reason to get YouTube Red, but there are good reasons, and he is going to get it. — 00:01:59 · YouTube

00:02:02 — Main concern: two classes of viewers on a flat platform; exclusive high-budget originals like PewDiePie's horror show; question to Nerdfighters

  • ★★★ John's main worry: YouTube Red may create two classes of viewers; YouTube is special as a flat platform where anyone with a device and internet sees everything. — 00:02:02 · YouTube
  • ★★ John says flatness has eroded a little for creators as production values rose, but he really does not want it to change on the audience side. — 00:02:25 · YouTube
  • ★★ John says non-subscribers keep the same YouTube except the new high-budget originals, such as PewDiePie's horror show with The Walking Dead's producers, impossible on ads alone. — 00:02:31 · YouTube
  • ★★ John asks Nerdfighters whether they would be excited or scared if their favourite creators made such a subscriber-only show ('asking for a friend'). — 00:02:47 · Nerdfighteria

00:03:02 — Ambivalent conclusion: a good option, subscriptions empower viewers, but YouTube should not become cable TV; invitation to discuss; Brotherhood 2.0 sign-off slip

  • ★★★ John says he doesn't know how to feel: it's nice to see YouTube move away from relying only on ads, and Red will be a good option without harming ad-supported viewers. (hedged) — 00:03:02 · online advertising, YouTube
  • ★★ John thinks subscriptions make viewers more powerful and brands slightly less so, which he calls good news. (hedged) — 00:03:16 · online advertising

  • ★★★ John is not sure he wants YouTube to grow up into cable TV; he wants it driven by fan communities and the direct creator-audience relationship, something you're part of. (hedged) — 00:03:21 · YouTube

    “YouTube isn't something you watch; it's something you're part of.”

  • ★★ John says he genuinely doesn't know whether YouTube Red is a step toward or away from that ideal and looks forward to continuing the conversation in comments. (unsure) — 00:03:35 · Nerdfighteria, YouTube

  • ★ Signing off, John says he'll see Hank tomorrow, corrects himself to Friday, and blames being in 'Brotherhood 2.0 mode'. (joke) — 00:03:45 · Brotherhood 2.0

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: online advertising · YouTube · YouTube Red

Also: People: Emily Nussbaum · PewDiePie

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Works: Arrested Development · Emily Nussbaum's essay on what advertising has done to television · Firefly (tv series) · Law & Order · The Walking Dead (TV series)

Organizations: Patreon · Spotify

Terms: doobly-doo · Under Puff

Concepts: crowdfunding · paywall

Also centred on YouTube Red: The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2015-10-23 – 2015-10-30.